Panel Holds Off On Budget Measure

April 13, 2001|By HUGH LESSIG Daily Press

RICHMOND — To break the budget impasse, the General Assembly could use an Easter miracle.

A Senate panel Thursday held off voting on a measure that could pave the way for a budget deal next week. It's not that they lacked a sense of urgency. But with two compromise budgets in circulation, the panel wanted to give lawmakers the Easter weekend to think about the tricky process of building a consensus.

"In these fickle times that we live in, you want to have everybody under the tent," said Sen. Malfourd W. Trumbo, R-Botetourt. "Keeping it in committee now, and having the weekend, we're in a much better position to talk about it intelligently."

The measure being kept in committee is a formal rules change. It would allow the General Assembly to introduce and act on budget bills while lawmakers are in Richmond for redistricting -- a job that is largely finished but will take them into next week. The rules change needs approval from the full House and Senate.

Arguments fall into two camps on this issue. One side says lawmakers should call a budget session, put the competing plans on the table and see what happens. The other side says it makes no sense to call a budget session unless the House and the Senate have a compromise in place ahead of time.

House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr., R-Amherst, falls into the second camp. He was cool to the idea of a rules change, saying the eight House and Senate budget negotiators can meet on their own time.

"There's no sense having a session, or coming back in session, unless we've got some kind of agreement worked out," he said. "I don't want to waste taxpayers' money just sitting here while eight people go meet."

Wilkins will support a special session if a majority in both chambers sign onto a budget sponsored by Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News. Hamilton said Thursday that 62 House members had signed the bill, including every member from the Peninsula.

Hamilton said the growing number of signees encouraged him. "I think they're starting to realize that this impasse is hurting people," he said.

But Wilkins also wants a majority in the Senate to support the Hamilton bill. There was no indication Thursday that the bill had anywhere close to that much support.

The Senate Finance Committee backs a bill that would phase out 55 percent of the car tax this year, with the provision to go to 70 percent if the state meets certain financial goals. Hamilton's bill phases out 70 percent of the car tax this year and at least 70 percent next year. The percentage cuts are effective on the first $20,000 of a vehicle's value.

The 55 percent in the first year is the main sticking point. Both the House and Gov. Jim Gilmore support 70 percent.

Both plans provide money for pay raises and other needed services. Both enjoy broad support in their respective chambers. Hamilton's 62 signatures include 13 Democrats. The Senate compromise plan has support from the Finance Committee, which includes Republicans and Democrats. On the Senate floor, all Democrats have stood arm-in-arm with a majority of Republicans on a 55 percent phase-out this year.

Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said no one should interpret the rules change as the Senate wanting to move off the 55 percent car tax phase-out this year.

Hugh Lessig can be reached at (804) 225-7345 or by e-mail at hlessig@dailypress.com